1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a tailgate extension assembly and, more particularly, to an extension assembly mounted to a vehicle tailgate being selectively positionable in a variety of orientations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicles such as pickup trucks, or other cargo vehicles include beds for hauling materials and tailgates for retaining the materials within the beds. The vehicle bed generally includes some type of horizontal platform with side walls or rails extending upwardly from either side and upright corner posts which extend upwardly from the rear corners of the platform and support the rear end of the side walls. The vehicle tailgate is generally hingedly attached to the rear end of the platform and is selectively attachable to the corner posts to maintain the tailgate in the closed position. The tailgate can be either in a vertical, closed orientation or in a horizontal, open position depending upon the specific requirements of the job. Materials are often longer than the length of the bed requiring either the tailgate remain open which may result in the material falling out the back of the vehicle, or closing the tailgate and setting the material on the top edge of the tailgate and extending beyond the bed. In either orientation, the user is required to perform additional time consuming steps such as securing the materials within the bed by rope, tape, or other means to properly secure the materials.
To overcome this problem, several different types of extension devices have been developed. Many of these previous extension devices include panels mounted directly to the vehicle tailgate. When loads are placed onto the extension device, the weight is directly transferred to the vehicle tailgate which may not be designed to support excessive weight resulting in the tailgate bending or otherwise becoming damaged and non-useable. Many previous designs include side members that extend between the end of the vehicle and the extension. However, these function to maintain the materials within the cargo bed and provide little additional support to the tailgate.
Another drawback of previous extension devices is the lack of adjustability to contain a variety of materials placed in the vehicle bed. Previous designs provide for vertical extension above the cargo bed, or horizontal extension for support beyond the bed length, but not both. Therefore, a person would be limited in the type of materials that could fit into the bed of the vehicle.
The extension device is permanently mounted to the vehicle and is not removed when not in use. Previous designs are often large and cumbersome and cannot be easily stored away when not in use. These devices take up large amounts of room in the cargo area and often make it difficult to access the cargo area as they are mounted on the tailgate and block the area from the rear of the vehicle.